Accidental injuries caused by operation of power-driven machinery and equipment are a serious problem in the workplace. Foreseeable personal injuries have occurred in the use of pedestrian-operated industrial lift trucks when objects fall from raised forks onto operators standing beside the truck.
Pedestrian-operated industrial lift trucks are commonly used in warehouses and other storage facilities to move heavy objects from one area to another. These trucks have a pair of forks or other load handling apparatus mounted on a vertical lift which allows the operator to stack heavy loads at any height. This allows the operator to store loads in vertical tiers in hard to reach places. As cargo is raised above the operator's head by the fork lift, the operator becomes susceptible to injury. Foreseeably, the operator could sustain an injury if cargo that the lift truck mechanism dislodged, was elevating or transporting fell from the forks. This could result in a massive head injury and possibly even death for the operator.
Pedestrian-operated lift trucks are moved and guided by an operator walking or riding alongside or behind the lift truck. The operator controls the lift truck's movements with an arcuately shiftable handle control.
Overhead guard assemblies are provided on many lift trucks currently in use. One such guard assembly is cited in U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,382 to Mecklenburg which discloses a mast-mounted overhead guard for an electric lift truck. The overhead guard is pivotally attached to a vertically extending mast which positions it directly above the operator's station. The device pivots vertically as cargo is raised above the operator's head. The Mecklenburg guard assembly does not protect the operator standing to the side of the truck.
Another type of guard assembly used for industrial lift trucks is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,679 to Lieptz which describes a retractable overhead guard for use on vertical lifting machines which protects an operator from falling material. The overhead guard assembly pivots vertically in response to the vertical positioning of the forks of the lift truck. The Lieptz device does not include any lateral protection to prevent objects being transported by the lift truck from falling on persons standing to the side of the overhead guard assembly. The operator of the pedestrian-operated industrial trucks typically walks or rides alongside or behind the truck which places him in harms way outside the guard coverage area.
Loads transported moved, raised or lowered are often most vulnerable to tipping or dropping when the lift truck is turned or reversed. It is foreseeable that a heavy object being transported on the forks of the lift truck could fall on top of the operator, causing a crushing injury to the operator's head, shoulders, legs, feet or arms, potentially resulting in permanent injuries or even death.
The above stated foreseeable hazards and others establish that there is a long-felt need for a device for preventing injury as a result of the operation of pedestrian-operated industrial lift trucks.